LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Caesar: North Italy
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Caesar had at his command a tough and experienced army, as well as an extensive following in Italy. Most of all, he was fighting for his own interests alone and did not have to face the divisions of interest, opinion, and leadership that plagued Pompey.
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Had Caesar at first been hoping to conquer the lands north of Italy. For this purpose his first task was to start raising , partly at his own expense - more troops than those which he already commanded as governor. Over the next few years he was to raise a force of ten legions, about 50'000 men, as well as 10'000 to 20'000 allies, slaves and camp followers.
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Crassus had fallen at Carrhae in 53 and by the end of the Gallic wars, Pompey was unwilling to accept Caesar as a political equal and rival. He sided with Caesar's ardent opponents in the Senate who were determined to prosecute him as soon as the Gallic command expired. This led to the outbreak of the civil war in 49, when Caesar led his troops across the Rubicon, the narrow stream separating his province, where he legally exercised command, with Italy, where he did not. He secured Italy in a matter of weeks, with hardly a blow being struck. Then he moved to Spain and manoeuvred a Pompeian army into a hopeless position, forcing it to surrender at Ilerda. In 48 he crossed to Macedonia and after a hard campaign defeated Pompey himself at Pharsalus.
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A traveler’s account confirms that Julius Caesar was performed in 1599. The play’s first known publication was in 1623 in the First Folio. Among Shakespeare’s sources for the play was North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives.
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